Drought conditions in the tri-state are getting worse, even with some locally heavy rains earlier this week.
The latest Drought Monitor report, released Thursday morning, now has virtually all of central and northeastern New Jersey in a moderate to severe drought, and the northwest part of the state falling into the "abnormally dry" category for the first time.
All of New York City is in a moderate to severe drought, and conditions remain severe all along the south shore of Long Island. All of Connecticut shows moderate or worse drought conditions, with the eastern end of the state at extreme levels.
Get Tri-state area news and weather forecasts to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York newsletters.
Below are the Drought Monitor maps for this week (left) and last week (right), showing the expansion of moderate and severe drought conditions in the region.
Local
As of Thursday, about 51% of the entire state of New Jersey is in a moderate drought or worse, according to U.S. Drought Monitor data, versus 32% just a week ago. It was the first time since March 2017 that the majority of the state was in such a condition.
Crops in New Jersey are noticeably smaller than before, or the plants themselves simply not growing nearly as high, due to the dry conditions. Corn fields are withering on their stalks, with corn cobs barely fit for consumption. Apples are much smaller than normal by this time of year. Soybeans that should be fully grown by now are not even close to that mark.
The situation is bad enough that local governments are ramping up water restrictions. Last week Rockland County declared a "stage II water emergency," which brings a host of rules, including a ban on serving restaurant customers glasses of water unless they specifically ask for it.
Lawns throughout the county are browning as well, as watering can only be done every other day. But with violations of up to $2,000 possible, many residents say they will oblige and understand the need for the restrictions.
Relief will only come with rain - and that's mostly been in short supply, even with parts of New Jersey getting a soaking earlier this week.
Storm Team 4 says there's rain on tap again for Friday, though likely not enough to really change conditions. More thunderstorms are possible in the middle of next week, but yet again, the storms don't appear to be enough to change conditions.
